European Union

The Dutch government debt was 32 billion euros lower than expected at the end of 2016, according to the Annual Financial Report Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem presented to the senate and lower house of parliament on Wednesday, ANP reports.

The United States' plan to ban laptops and tablets on flights to America is unsafe, according Dutch pilots association VNV. If the U.S. has its way, laptops and tablets will only be allowed in the cargo area of a plane. But according to the VNV, this forms a great danger of lithium batteries catching fire. "That has happened in the past. Such a fire can not be extinguished, because the crew can't reach the cargo area during a flight", Joost van Doesburg of the VNV said to NOS.

Many banks and financial institutions moving to Europe after the Brexit, are shunning Amsterdam due to the Netherlands' cap on bonuses. While the rest of the European Union capped bonuses at 100 percent of the fixed salary, the Netherlands' cap is 20 percent of the fixed salary. The banks fear losing talent to the competition, being forced to pay irresponsibly high salaries to keep employees and do not feel welcome in the Netherlands, Financieele Dagblad reports after talking to a number of companies assisting banks in their move to the EU mainland.

Netherlands residents have slightly more confidence in each other and the authorities, such as the police and judiciary, according to figures Statistics Netherlands released on Monday. Data from 2015-2016 shows that 60 percent of Dutch older than 15 trust their fellow human beings. That is 2 percent more than the 58 percent who trusted the rest of society in the period 2012 to 2014. A clear majority of 70 percent of Dutch have confidence in the police and judiciary.

The European economy is continuing its steady growth, and for the first time in a long time all EU countries saw economic growth. The European Commission expects that the EU economy will grow by 1.7 percent this year and 1.8 percent in 2018. The Netherlands is outperforming the EU average with expected economic growth of 2.1 percent this year and 1.8 percent in 2018, the Volkskrant reports.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Foreign Affairs Minister Bert Koenders expressed their congratulations to new French president Emmanuel Macron and congratulated the French population for choosing pro-Europe and anti-xenophobia. PVV leader Geert Wilders congratulated runner up nationalist candidate Marine Le Pen on getting the votes of "millions of patriots".

Ninety Dutch professors called on the new government to invest 200 billion euros into sustainability in the coming decades, in an open letter published in Trouw on Monday. With this money the Netherlands can build new, smart infrastructure for green energy, sustainable water supply and climate-conscious mobility, according to the professors.

Not a single country in the European Union, including the Netherlands, congratulated Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his projected win in a referendum in Turkey on Sunday. The projected results show that 51.4 percent of Turks voted 'yes' on a referendum that gives Erdogan more power, including the possibility of ruling Turkey until 2029. But instead of congratulations, a number of EU countries responded with criticism and admonitions, the Volkskrant reports.

With Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan claiming a narrow victory in a referendum designed to give his office more power, several politicians in the Netherlands expressed disdain for the vote results. Erdogan opponents in Turkey questioned the veracity of the vote count, with Turkish state media claiming that 70 percent of Turkish passport holders in the Netherlands voting to give Erdogan greater authority.

There is a "very distinct possibility" that Ryanair will have to suspend flights from the United Kingdom for "weeks or months" if the UK and European Union can't make a bilateral international aviation deal well ahead of the Brexit taking effect, Ryanair CEO Neil Sorahan told the Guardian.

Over 70 of the 751 European Parliamentarians sent a letter to Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem demanding that he apologize for his "Schnapps und Frauen" statement and resign. The letter is singed by MEPs from 15 countries, including the German leader of the Christian Democrats, ANP reports.

After years of a budget deficit, the Dutch government managed to achieve a budget surplus in 2016. And that surplus is even 14 times larger than previously expected - a massive 2.9 billion euros, according to Statistics Netherlands on Friday. The Dutch economy also gew more than expected in previous estimations, RTL Nieuws reports.

The Dutch advisory council for international affairs AIV expects that a trade agreement with the United Kingdom will not be possible within the first two years of the Brexit. In a recommendation to the yet-to-be-formed new Dutch government, the council advocates for a transitional period after the UK's official departure from the European Union, ANP reports.

The Netherlands will not apologize to Turkey for the actions taken in Rotterdam on Saturday around the arrival of Turkish Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Mark Rutte said to Het Parool on Wednesday. "The actions taken on Saturday were firm and respectful."

The European Commission called on Turkey to refrain from making harsh statements that could worsen the country's relationship with the Netherlands and other European members. "The comparison by the Turkish President with Nazi practices is unacceptable", Vice President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans said, according to NOS.

Another 10 Dutch names were added to the Netherlands' national terrorism list. The list now contains 100 names - 86 men, 11 women and three organizations, RTL Nieuws reports.

Most of the names on the list involve people believed to be involved in terrorist activities in Syria and Iraq.

The bank accounts and assets of everyone on the list have been frozen, which means they can no longer access the money in their accounts. This measure is intended to make it more difficult for terrorist activities to be funded from the Netherlands.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte got support from a majority in the lower house of Dutch parliament for amendments he wants to add to the association agreement between the European Union and Ukraine so that the Netherlands can ratify it. In the Tweede Kamer on Tuesday the VVD, PvdA, D66 and GroenLinks supported his solution, NOS reports.

An increasing number of companies from the United Kingdom are considering making a move to the Netherlands. The main reason for them to move across the Channel is the fact that the Brexit will likely mean more difficult trading with the European Union from within Britain, NRC reports

The fact that British Prime Minister Theresa May announced last year that in addition to the EU, the Brits also want to leave the European internal market, reinforced many companies' determination to move across the Channel, according to the newspaper.

If the European Union falls apart, the Netherlands would face severe consequences, according to Rabobank. The Dutch economy will shrink by 10 to 15 percent, unemployment will double and welfare will remain structurally lower than when the Netherlands was part of the internal market. Should the EU stay together, but the Netherlands decides to step out, the consequences would be even more disastrous, the bank predicts, RTL Nieuws reports.

The Netherlands' healthcare system is the best in Europe, according to the annual index by Swedish Health Consumer Powerhouse. The Netherlands has been number in Europe on this index since 2008, the Telegraaf reports.

Powerhouse compares accessibility, cost, treatment outcome and use of medicine for their ranking. This year the Netherlands scored 927 out of the possible 1,000 points. Improvements were seen in shorter waiting lists.

Minister Bert Koenders of Foreign Affairs thinks its time for Europe to change, now that "America First is the motto" of the new U.S. president Donald Trump, he said in newspaper AD. "Not more Europe, not less. We need a different Europe."

The European Union could face collapse if nationalist parties win the elections in the Netherlands and France this year, German Minister Sigmar Gabriel of Economic Affairs said tto the Bundestag lower house of parliament, Reuters reports.

"After the Brexit last year, if enemies of Europe manage again in the Netherlands or in France to get results then we face the threat that the largest civilization project of the 20th century, namely the European Union, could fall apart."

On Monday United States president elec. Donald Trump said that he does not much care whether the European Union is divided or united, in interviews with newspapers Bild and The Times. He also called on other countries to follow Britain's example with the Brexit. European Commissioner Frans Timmermans read these statements with amazement. "We have never seen a U.S. president show interest in a divided Europe." he said to broadcaster NOS.